re: Motorcycles: Harley v. BMW

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My motorcycle experience is extremely limited.

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if you expect to be doing your own maint and repairs then i suggest a yamaha in the star line

yamahas are the easiest to work on and they use allen nuts everywhere on everything so you dont ever have stripped screw issues to deal with.

since this is your first bike i suggest you get an xvs650 v-star, its not heavy so easy to pick up if you drop it and its not a powerful beast that can get away from you. you can pick these up used for about $2k with very few miles on them.

i have the xvs1100 and it has all the power i will ever need, but the larger star bikes like the 1300 and 1600 are high powered beasts and very heavy so you need to be an experienced rider to be on something that heavy and powerful

if buying used keep in mind bikes often have very little miles so look for something under 25k miles and most barely have 10k on them

also when buying a helmet get a full faced modular (front half flips up) they are the best but make sure it doesnt have the anti fog shield feature. its an extra shield behind the visor that prevents fogging up but in truth all it does is cause wind noise through the mounting holes through the visor. the wind noise from them is to the point it drives you crazy and you cant enjoy a peaceful ride

by the way, i have been riding for 44 years now and i have had 3 suzukis, 5 hondas, and 6 yamahas. i loved the suzuki but they were impossible to work on because the phillips screws always stripped out making even minor work take forever.

also you couldnt give me a harley, if i won a new one today i would never ride it and sell it to buy a rice burner. i always liked what i read about bmw but never had the chance to own one